


Love Makes Fools Of Us All

by Darkcat18



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A smattering of it at least, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Ben Solo, Because Author is bad at tagging, Ben Solo is a Mess, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Devoted Reylo, F/M, Fluff, Hux...eh, Loss of Virginity, Poe Dameron is a Good Friend, Rey is Not a Virgin, Tags May Change, Virgin Ben Solo, and will likely think of more later, copious smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:13:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23765167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkcat18/pseuds/Darkcat18
Summary: Poe Dameron and Armitage Hux take their friend Ben Solo to Madam Natal's high end brothel so that he can be rid of his virginity. Ben, though nearly thirty, has no desire to lose his virginity to a whore. When he sees Rey, laundress and cook, he strikes a deal with Madam Natal to spend the night with her. Rey agrees after he offers her a very large sum of money, to be paid directly to her. What neither realize is that this deal will change the course of their lives.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 117
Kudos: 518
Collections: Anniversary Fic Exchange 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArdeaJestin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArdeaJestin/gifts).



> For ArdeaJestin. I hope you like it! :)
> 
> Thanks to 11minutes(redlondons) for the moodboard! :)

# Chapter 1

“You look as if you’re attending a funeral.”

Ben glared at Hux. “You’re taking me to a brothel against my will.”

Dameron barked a laugh. “Only you would see patronizing Madam Natal’s fine establishment as beneath you.”

Ben crossed his arms. “It’s not beneath me. I don’t wish to patronize any brothel.”

Hux mirrored his stance. “You’re turning thirty and you’ve never lain with a woman. This has to be remedied.”

Ben’s face heated. “What does it matter if I’ve lain with a woman or not. I’ll marry someday.”

Hux snorted, rolling his eyes at Ben’s sentimentality. “Yes, you’ll marry some day and believe me _then_ you’ll wish you had sampled the fine goods at Madam Natal’s.”

Dameron gave Hux a sympathetic look. “How long until Phas’s lying in?”

Hux sighed heavily. “The doctor gave her the order at his last visit. It’s just a waiting game now.”

Dameron tsked while Ben struggled to keep the sneer of his face. Though his friends gave him endless grief over his sentimentality, Ben longed for the life that Hux treated so cavalierly. His wife was with child and here he was taking Ben to a brothel. He should be at home tending to his wife’s needs rather than his own.

It wasn’t that Ben was a religious man, though he had of course been raised properly. It was that he valued marriage and longed for a family of his own. His father and mother had been a love match, but ill-suited for one another. There had been many arguments between them, especially when his father was gone for months taking odds and ends to sell to the folks who had made the trek out west. But despite it all, he knew they loved one another, and he wished for companionship of his own.

He did not wish to waste his money on a woman who had lain with who knew how many men before him, who was as likely to give him a disease as not. He did not hold it against these women, knew that they had turned to such depravity out of desperation, but neither did he wish to further debase them.

Hux and Dameron turned to him, each clapping a hand on either of his shoulders.

“Now then. Enough about my wife,” Hux said. “Let’s get our friend here the best whore money can buy.”

Knowing it was useless to fight against them, Ben allowed himself to be pulled towards the high-end brothel. As they stepped inside, he looked around. There were people strewn about the room, each with a whore on their lap, in various states of undress. He averted his eyes when he happened to glance one woman who was bare from the waist up. Instead he turned his head in the opposite direction, thankful to see the other room held a dining table and no naked women. He tried to ignore the moans and screams coming from somewhere above, his collar suddenly feeling too tight.

Hux spoke with the Madam and Ben let him. He had decided he would simply let Hux pay for the woman and the woman in question would get an hour—or evening, or however long he was to spend with her—free to rest. Perhaps he would encourage her to sleep. She probably needed it.

A woman came into view, and Ben’s heart skipped a beat, his mouth falling open. She certainly wasn’t one of Madam Natal’s whores, wearing no revealing or gaudy clothing and carrying a laundry basket on her hip. She looked young, possibly not yet twenty. Ben wondered how she had found herself doing the washing of a whorehouse. She was certainly pretty enough to have gotten a husband of her choosing.

“I want her.”

Ben spoke before he had even decided to. He turned back to find Hux, Dameron, and Madam Natal all staring at him. He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. He nodded towards the young woman who had stopped in her tracks and was staring at him with wide eyes.

“I would like to pay for this woman’s time.”

Madam Natal tittered. “Come now, surely we can find you one of my well-trained women to fit your fancy. Young Kaydel perhaps?”

The Madam snapped her fingers and a young woman appeared. She was certainly comely enough, but now that he was here, he knew what he wanted. He didn’t intend to sleep with the young woman. He’d simply like the chance to get to know her while satisfying his friend’s ridiculous desire to see him lay with more than one woman in his lifetime.

He shook his head. “No. I want this young lady or no one.”

Madam Natal’s eyes flashed before she hid her anger beneath a mask she undoubtedly wore around patrons.

Hux laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, man. You don’t want the wash girl.” He said the term with derision. “You want a girl who knows what she’s doing.”

Ben raised his eyebrows. “It was you who wanted me here. I never wanted to come.”

He glanced at the young woman, finding her still staring at him with wide eyes, her laundry basket frozen on her hip, and felt a twinge of guilt.

Turning back to Madam Natal, he said, “I’ll pay double the price of your most expensive girl.” The madam’s eyes widened. He knew how these places worked, however. The Madam would reap the lion’s share of the money. “And I want a full third of it to go directly to her.”

Madam Natal’s lips pressed into a thin line, her nostrils flaring as she appeared to struggle with being told what to do with the money he was offering.

“No.”

They all turned towards the laundry maid, who was now glaring at him.

“Rey…” Madam Natal walked over to the woman—to Rey—grabbing the laundry basket and setting it down. “Let’s not be too hasty. You wouldn’t want to upset this kind man.”

Rey glared at Ben, and he wished he could tell her he wouldn’t sleep with her, that he merely wanted her time and to satisfy his friends.

“I don’t care. I’m not doing it.” She looked at Madam Natal, a thread of vulnerability in her voice when she spoke. “You promised me I wouldn’t have to, that if I did the laundry and the cooking that you wouldn’t sell me.”

“I’ll give you the full double price, Madam Natal,” he said, feeling oddly desperate to spend time with this fiery young woman. He turned his eyes to her. “And I will pay the price of her highest priced whore to you directly.”

Madam Natal appeared to struggle between delight at the sum he was offering and anger at his going over her head to pay Rey directly.

Rey, for her part, looked equally at war over such a large sum of money. Truthfully, he was certain at an establishment like this that the sum he was so carelessly tossing at her would be enough for her to leave this place, to find a home and job at a respectable establishment, such as a shop. It would likely set her up nicely for at least several years. And he couldn’t explain why, but he desperately wanted her to be free of this place.

The Madam put her arm around Rey, speaking low in her ear. Ben frowned, hoping the woman wasn’t threatening her. He felt a strange protectiveness over this woman he had met not five minutes ago. He didn’t want his demands to cause her difficulty.

Hux and Dameron interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you mad?” Hux hissed as Dameron tried to talk him out of such a foolish sum of money.

Ben turned to them. “This was your idea. I have more money than I need, since I don’t carelessly throw it away on gambling—like you Dameron—or whores—like you Hux.”

They continued to argue with him over his foolishness, but now that he had the idea, he was set on it. He wanted to help this young woman be free of this place.

“Very well.”

All three men looked over to find Rey with a stony expression on her face. “I’ll do it.”

Ben swallowed, his heart beating rapidly, feeling strangely turned on by the fire in her eyes. He nodded. “Very well then.”

He turned to Madam Natal, pulling out the notes and handing them to her, before pulling out the agreed-upon sum and handing it to Rey. She paused for a moment before grasping hold of them and holding them to her chest.

Ben swallowed again. Now that the deal had been brokered he found himself feeling oddly hot around the collar.

Madam Natal broke through the awkwardness, giving Rey a look before turning to smile at him.

“Very well then. Let me show you to an available room.”

She turned on her heel, leading Ben and Rey up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

# Chapter 2

Ben swallowed as he followed Rey and Madam Natal down the hallway.

He felt himself harden—despite finding the very idea of brothels off-putting—as they passed room after room of moaning women. Some had even left the doors open, clearly enjoying exhibitionism. He averted his gaze as they passed one room where the woman was on all fours facing the door, her tits swinging as a man pounded her from behind. Ben’s collar felt near choking him, while his cock strained against his trousers. He swallowed thickly when the next room they passed featured a man sitting on the bed, his hand in the harlot’s hair, her hands tied behind her back, on her knees as her head bobbed back and forth.

Ben looked away and felt himself flush as he realized he had unwittingly exposed Rey to these lewd acts. He hoped she had kept her gaze averted, though there was no way to block out the loud moaning.

At the end of the hallway, Madam Natal opened a door, gesturing for them to enter. Ben nodded at her as he entered the room, looking around. It was both surprisingly simple and elegant. There was a canopied bed in the center made of mahogany, with matching mahogany tables on either side, and a wardrobe on one wall. He wondered idly if the room belonged to one of the girls or if their quarters were elsewhere in the home.

The door clicked shut behind them, and silence descended as the moans from the hallway became muffled. Ben took a deep breath, trying to gather his wits to speak with Rey, to let her know he had no expectations of sexual favors.

Before he could say a word, however, Rey strode over to the bed.

“Right then,” she said, laying back on the bed and pulling up her skirts. “Get on with it.”

Ben choked, rushing over and yanking her skirts down. “No!”

She pushed up onto her elbows, her skirt-covered legs dangling off the bed. “What? Did you prefer another position?”

Ben closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. I don’t—That’s not—” He sighed, opening his eyes. “I didn’t actually plan to do anything. I just wanted the pleasure of your company.”

Rey blinked at him. “You gave me a year’s worth of money—two years’ worth to Madam Natal—and all you want is the pleasure of my company?”

Ben cleared his throat, clasping his hands in front of him to hide the still very much noticeable bulge in his trousers.

“Yes.”

“Do you not like women, then?”

Ben choked again, his face heating at her blunt question. “No. Yes. Yes, I like women.”

Rey sat up and raised her eyebrows. “Is this a game we’re playing? Do you want me to play the part of the innocent maid?”

He frowned. “Are you an innocent maid?”

She crossed her arms. “I’m the laundress and cook at a brothel. What do you think?”

Ben felt a thread of jealousy run through him and tried to quell it. He certainly had no plans to have sex with this woman whom he had only just met, so why did it matter what had happened in her past?

Despite this line of logic, however, Ben couldn’t help the sudden desire to find the man, or men, who had left her to work in a brothel.

Rey stood, walking over to him, her chin held high. “I can see what you’re thinking.” He gasped when she reached out and rubbed her hand over the bulge in his trousers. “I was not taken advantage of.”

Ben swallowed, grasping her wrist to stay her movements, staring down at her. “Then why are you here?”

Her expression shuttered close, and she dropped her hand, her shoulder lifting as she turned around. “He left when the scandal broke, leaving me with no money and a ruined reputation.”

She sat on the edge of the bed again as Ben grappled with the sudden overwhelming anger on her behalf. “It sounds very much like you were taken advantage of.”

She shrugged again. “Perhaps, but I was a willing participant in our little dalliance. I knew what the consequences would be, and I foolishly did it anyway.”

He sat next to her, shifting uncomfortably as he willed his cock to soften. “If you knew it was foolish, then why did you do it?”

The corner of her mouth tugged up, but her eyes held bitterness. “Why does any woman risk her reputation? I fancied myself in love.”

Ben studied her, wondering how someone so seemingly young could have become so jaded. “How old are you?”

Rey huffed a laugh. “Quite a brazen question, sir.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “We’re in a brothel. This is hardly the most brazen thing I could ask you.”

She smiled, ducking her head. “Fair enough. I’ll be twenty this spring.”

“That is very young to have had such misfortune.”

Rey clasped her hands in her skirt. “As Mr. Thackeray said, ‘love makes fools of us all.’”

Ben leaned back, surprised. “You’ve read _The History of Pendennis_?”

She shrugged. “I think a great many things about me would surprise you, sir.”

“Ben.” He winced. It was ridiculous to expect her to call him by his first name when she hardly knew him, but the word had slipped out of his mouth before he could think to stop himself. He cleared his throat. “My name is Ben.”

She stared at him. He couldn’t help the smirk over the fact that he had managed to surprise her.

She took a deep breath and pasted on a smile. “Very well then, Ben.”

His heart skipped a beat at hearing his name from her lips. It was really quite ridiculous. She was the laundress and cook at a brothel. He nearly laughed to think what his family would have said of his taking a fancy to someone so far beneath him.

“If you didn’t come to a brothel to have your fill of women, then why did you come?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Ben shook his head to clear it of the melancholy that thoughts of his family always brought on.

“Hux and Dameron were relentless in their desire I should finally—” He broke off, his ears heating as he realized he had nearly admitted to this woman that he was inexperienced.

“Finally, what?” Rey was watching, openly curious.

Ben sighed. “They find my desire to lay only with the woman who would be my wife…overly sentimental.”

Rey’s mouth fell open, her eyes wide. “What—never?”

He shook his head. “No. Never.” He laughed as his face grew hot, looking around the room to avoid her likely amused look. “I’m sure you think me a fool like they do.”

“No.”

Ben whipped his head around in surprise. “No?”

Rey smiled. “Strange? Yes. Unusual? Certainly. But I don’t think you’re a fool.” She reached out and grasped his hand. “I think you must be very sweet.”

Ben snorted. “No one has ever accused me of that.”

Rey hummed, the corners of her mouth lifting. “Yes. Of course. It’s not as if you bought a woman for well over triple what she was worth and then opted for conversation in lieu of sex.”

Ben frowned, as confused as she was over what he had done. “You seem to have a strange effect on me.” He ran a hand through his hair and laughed. “I may be sentimental about sex with my wife, but I am not generally known for my kindness or generosity.”

Rey studied him for a long moment, seeming to assess him. Before he realized her intent, she pulled his hand up and rested it on the swell of her breast.

He immediately tried to pull his hand back, but Rey gripped his wrist, keeping him from retreating.

“There is plenty we can do without having sex,” she said. “I haven’t been with another man since Thomas left me, but you are very intriguing.”

Ben’s lips parted, his eyes pinned to where his hand rested on her breast. He wrestled with himself between the desire not to take advantage of Rey and the desire currently hardening his cock.

He forced himself to look up at her. “I—you don’t have to do anything. I really only wanted the pleasure of your company and to silence my friends.”

The corners of her mouth turned up again, amusement glittering in her eyes. “I know. I want you to.”

This woman would be the death of him. Those four little words nearly undid him, all blood leaving his head and fleeing southward. His breath caught in his throat when Rey pulled at the ties of her corset, loosening it enough to pull over her head. She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it down, exposing her small breasts.

Ben swallowed thickly, trying to tear his eyes away. He really ought to put a stop to this. This wasn’t what he had intended. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what he had planned to do. It went against his plans for his life. He was only supposed to be appeasing Hux and Dameron.

Rey grabbed his hand again, pressing his palm to one breast. His hands were so large—and her breasts so small—that he quite easily enveloped her, her nipple tickling his palm. He tried swallowing again as he squeezed experimentally.

Rey gasped closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

“Yes. Like that. Keep going,” she breathed.

He palmed her breast again, gently squeezing, watching her mouth pop open as she gasped. He turned fully towards her, lifting his other hand to her other breast. He alternately watched his hands and watched Rey as he experimented with palming her breast, squeezing it, and pinching her nipples. That last one got the biggest gasp from her.

Ben’s cock twitched when she said on a moan, “Put your mouth on them. Please.”

The air felt thinner as he hesitated. He had certainly already overstepped the boundaries he had defined, but perhaps it would be best to stop before things progressed.

Rey looked at him again, biting her lip. “Please?”

His head spinning as he leaned forward to obey. He pressed open-mouthed kisses on the swell of one breast, alternately sucking and laving as he moved closer to her nipple. Her breath started coming in quick bursts as her fingers combed into his hair.

“Suck the nipple.” Her voice came out as a whine. He smiled against her skin, feeling oddly proud of the neediness in her tone.

Obliging, he moved his lips to her nipple, lightly scraping his teeth over it before sucking hard. The resulting sound sent whatever was left of his blood straight down. He was painfully hard now, aching for friction of any kind, but forced himself to stick only with what Rey had deemed ok.

He moved to the other breast and repeated the process, sucking her nipple hard, enjoying the way she clenched his hair in her fist. He kissed his way to the center of her chest, holding her eyes as he kissed downward. He paused, his hands diving behind her neck to undo the tie, his fingers ghosting along her skin as pulled the garment down. She helped him, sliding her arms out and pushing the fabric down so that she was bare from the waist up.

Ben pulled back, admiring the creamy expanse of skin. Rey watched him, her fingers still massaging his scalp. Her eyes flicked down, and she gently pushed him away.

Ben opened his mouth to ask if he had somehow overstepped, but instead he choked when her fingers began unbuttoning his trousers.

He grasped her wrist. “That’s—That’s quite unnecessary.”

Rey looked up at him as she continued unfastening the buttons. “I disagree,” she said. “It looks as if you’re in quite a lot of discomfort.”

He gasped when she reached her delicate hand into his undergarments and ran her figners up the length of his cock. Her thumb brushed across the head, and he cursed. She chuckled, brushing her thumb over the head again, spreading the fluid around.

She stood up suddenly, walking over to one of the tables and opening the drawer. Taking out a small bottle, she brought it over. When she opened it to pour some into her hands, Ben saw that it was oil. His eyes widened, panting as he watched her smooth the oil in her hands before once more grasping him, this time with both hands, rubbing the oil up and down his length.

He made an inelegant sound as she grasped him firmly in one hand and began pumping up and down. He looked down, nearly coming at the sight of her small hand around him.

He was beginning to see why Hux and Dameron had insisted on bringing him to a brothel. Even though Rey was doing something he himself had done many times, the experience was entirely different in someone else’s hands. The feeling of her skin against his as she pumped up and down made him swallow hard. He choked when she placed her other hand at the base of his cock and squeezed before beginning to pump him harder and faster.

He leaned back on his hands, his head tiling back to look at the canopy as he felt himself getting closer to the end. He didn’t know what magic lay in her hands that kept him from coming, but he was sure he had never been this wound up before.

His hands gave out when out of nowhere, Rey stopped pumping and put her mouth on him, sucking hard, her fingers at the base squeezing him almost painfully. His groans were surely repulsive; he sounded like he was dying—though truth be told he wasn’t sure he _wasn’t_ dying.

He started to see spots in his vision, every muscle tensing as Rey bobbed up and down, sucking hard whenever she reached the end of his cock.

If this was death, then it would be a good death.

Without warning, Rey popped off, releasing her hold on him entirely, and his orgasm flooded through him. He groaned as his cock twitched, sending ropes of cum shooting out. Only when he could breathe again, when the spots started to disappear from his vision, did he sit up on shaky arms.

He swallowed hard, his spent cock twitching valiantly as he saw that he had painted Rey with his spend. She currently had her eyes closed and was rubbing his spend over her chest and abdomen.

“Why—why did you do that?” His voice was hoarse. Had he yelled? He couldn’t honestly remember.

Rey opened her eyes, shrugging as she lifted her fingers and started licking them. He swallowed again.

“You’re paying me enough to get out of here, if I want. The least I can do is repay you.”

Ben shook his head. “That’s not…no. That’s not necessary. I don’t need you to actually do anything to earn my money. I didn’t—don’t want you to do anything.”

Rey shrugged again. “And I don’t take anything for free. I don’t accept charity from strangers and this is a brothel. So, I earned your money the way one does in a brothel.”

Ben looked down at her cum-covered abdomen. “You enjoyed it, though.”

He looked back up at her.

She looked away, standing and walking over to the pitcher of water, pouring some into a basin.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like that. I had forgotten how it felt.”

Ben frowned. “At not-yet twenty, surely it hasn’t been that long ago.”

Rey huffed a laugh as she rung out a rag and wiped herself off. Ben tried not to notice how sexy she looked, bare from the waist and dragging a rag over her body to clean off his come.

“I was very young.”

Ben frowned. “How young?”

She sighed, tossing the rag back into the basin and pulling up the sleeves of her under shirt, covering her small breasts.

“I was not quite fifteen when we began our dalliance.”

She walked back over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed. Only then did Ben realize his now flaccid cock was still hanging out of his trousers. He quickly stuffed himself back into his pants as she continued.

“My parents died when I was five, and I was living with my uncle. When he found out that I had slept with Thomas, he threw me out of the house in naught by my underclothes. It was really a blessing that Madam Natal found me and took me in—an even bigger blessing that she allowed me to work as a laundress and cook rather than forcing me to become a whore.”

She smirked at him, “Though you made short work of turning me into one.”

Horror washed over him as the reality of what his purchasing meant for her hit him square in the chest.

“I’m so sorry,” he sputtered. “I was not thinking. I didn’t mean to disrespect you so much. I just wanted Hux and Dameron to quit harping for me to lay with a woman, and I thought you would be happy to simply talk.”

Rey shrugged. “I was the one who insisted, so don’t blame yourself too hard.”

Ben frowned. “No. I should have resisted.”

Rey laughed. “I have been working here for nearly five years. Believe me, you are easily the most resistant man to patronize this establishment.”

“Will Madam Natal make you see others because of this?”

Rey looked down, running her hands over her skirt. “Possibly, though I don’t plan to submit to that quietly.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair. “What if I pay for you?”

Her head snapped up and he cursed. “No. I just mean I can pay her to see you exclusively.”

She frowned at him. “What do you do that you have so much money to throw away on a harlot?”

Ben huffed a laugh, running his hands through his hair again. “I’m a businessman who also comes from old money, and I never spend it. I live modestly.”

Rey snorted. “Until you decided you wanted a harlot all to yourself.”

“Stop saying that.” The words came out harsher than he intended, and he forced himself to soften his tone. “Please don’t call yourself a harlot. You’re a laundress and cook, and I will help you keep it that way. I’ll pay for you, I’ll even come to visit to keep up the ruse, but…but that’s all I expect. Please let me make it up to you, let me do this.”

Rey pressed her lips together. “I won’t accept your charity.

He shook his head. “It’s not charity. It’s restitution for a wrong done.”

Rey crossed her arms. “No. I don’t accept.”

Ben huffed. “Why on earth not?”

“I don’t accept charity.”

“You accepted Madam Natal’s charity.”

“No, I accepted the job of laundress and cook.”

Ben crossed his arms, mirroring her. “Fine. Then I demand that I see you at least once weekly, where you will carry on a conversation with me. I’ll bring books for you to read so that we can discuss them.”

Rey laughed, surprising him when she fully doubled over as if he had said something hilarious. He frowned, feeling somewhat defensive that she found his solution so laughable.

He waited while she composed herself. It took several minutes as she kept breaking back into laughter when she looked at him. When she finally managed to stop laughing, she held her stomach.

“I have a counter-proposition,” she said, mirth still coloring her tone.

His frown melted into confusion. “A counter proposition?”

She nodded. “We can do all of that if you like, but you will treat me like a harlot.”

Ben recoiled. “What? No. I don’t accept.”

Rey studied him for a moment before scooting over, swinging her leg over until she was straddling him, her hands wrapped around his neck. “Ben, I have been avoiding men since Thomas left me, since my uncle threw me out, and definitely since I started working at a brothel. You have reminded me just how much fun sex can be.”

She pulled one hand away from his neck, running her finger across his cheek, over his bottom lip, drifting lower to the cock that was eagerly attempting to grow hard again. She gently squeezed him. “In this world, women like me have no hope of finding a good man. You strike me as a man who won’t take advantage of me. You certainly seemed determined to remain a virgin until you marry, though I suppose you technically still are. If I agree to spend time with you, then the thing that I want in return for you keeping me from the unsavory brutes who frequent this establishment, is to enjoy myself.”

Ben stared at her, nonplussed. “You mean, you _want_ to be my harlot?”

She ran her hand over his cock again, leaning forward to so that her lips were next to his ear. “Thanks to you, Madam Natal will make me a harlot whether I want to be one or not, so if I’m going to be a harlot, then I want to be your harlot.”

Ben closed his eyes, mildly horrified at how those words affected him. Less than an hour in a brothel and he had managed to secure himself a personal prostitute. He should refuse, should insist that they keep the arrangement free of any sex acts.

His cock, however, was clearly running the show.

It started hardening as he said, “Ok.”

Rey pulled back, removing her hand from his cock. “Ok?”

He opened his eyes and nodded. “Ok. I will ensure that Madam Natal doesn’t sell you to anyone else, bring you books to read and discuss with me, and in exchange…we’ll engage in sexual deviancy.”

Rey laughed, looking astonished. She climbed off his lap. “Well. That was certainly less bargaining than I expected to do.”

She held out her hand. He stared for a beat before grasping it and shaking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing but 3500 words of pure smut. Hope you enjoy! ;)
> 
> Also I updated the chapter count because I cannot control this beast and it keeps getting longer. But for real it'll be 5 chapters. Nearly done writing the fic. This'll be the first time I finish an exchange fic before the reveal date. Wild.

# Chapter 3

Securing Rey as his personal harlot was much easier than Ben expected. Truth be told, he had initially offered what he thought to be a low number, expecting Madam Natal to counter more. She agreed to let Rey continue her duties as a cook and laundress—paid—as well as providing her time to read the novels he would be leaving. In return he would come every Saturday for however long he wished.

Ben spent several days battling with himself over whether to request his friends’ help. He was a novice in the area of female pleasure, but wanted give Rey the same pleasure she had given him. He hadn’t told either of his friends of the bargain he had struck with the madam, and truth be told, he wasn’t entirely certain whether they would give him good advice. In the end, however, Ben’s dislike of his inexperience won out over his other concerns, and he spoke with them.

Hux—as expected—had laughed at him, asking why he cared about learning to pleasure a woman.

Dameron, however, had not only held in his laughter, but had whacked Hux on the head and had called him a fool. He had then given Ben several pointers, going into such vivid detail that Ben’s face had flamed and his collar had felt constricting.

The advice was good, however, or at least it seemed that way to Ben. There had been several different techniques Dameron had suggested, and Ben kept them all in mind as he walked up the stairs, following Rey.

He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t had to jerk himself off several times during the week and twice today before he had come, despite the early hour. He had nearly traveled over after breakfast, so eager was he to see her, but realized that a brothel would most assuredly be closed in the morning. The women had to sleep sometime, after all.

They walked to the same room they had been in the previous week. Rey walked in, moving immediately to the bed, sitting down. Ben closed the door behind him, gathering his courage and trying to calm his racing heart.

He didn’t know what it was that so drew him to her, but she most definitely had an effect on him that no other woman had managed.

“Now then,” she said when he turned around. “Shall we start with the book or sex.”

Ben choked, spluttering.

Rey eyes moved down, stopping halfway. She smirked.

“Sex then.”

Ben gathered his now scattered wits, repeating Dameron’s pointer’s in his head. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bed, grasping Rey’s hand, and yanking her up.

She yelped in surprise when he crashed his lips to hers, banding an arm around her waist to pull her close. She quickly recovered, opening her mouth and dipping her tongue inside of his. He growled at the feeling of her tongue against his, his other hand sliding into her hair and grasping it, tilting her head so that he could better fit his mouth to hers.

Kissing Rey was even better than he expected, and much more intimate. He could hear each little gasp and moan as he dragged his tongue on the roof of her mouth, sliding it against her own.

He loved it.

The previous week, Rey’s advances had caught him by surprise. He generally wasn’t the sort of man who let others take charge. He was known to be ruthless in his business ventures, making himself quite a lot of money. He intended to be equally ruthless with Rey, not to harm her, but rather to pleasure.

His hands drifted to the ties of her corset, pulling them loose. He yanked at the stays until the corset was loose enough to pull over her head. He tossed it away, pulling her shirt down, once more baring her from the waist up.

She gasped when he put both hands on her waist, easily lifting her and depositing her on the bed. She started to sit up, but he crawled over her, one hand fondling her breast as he kissed a trail from her mouth, down her jaw, sucking on the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

She keened when he paired sucking with pinching her nipple.

“Ben. What—’

Ben pulled back. “I want to do this.”

He held her gaze, and when she made no move to stop him, he leaned back down and wrapped his mouth around her nipple, sucking hard. As she had the previous week, Rey gripped his hair, pulling it as he sucked on first one breast and then the other.

She began writhing underneath him, her breaths coming in short bursts. When he was satisfied she was well and truly warmed up, he began kissing down her abdomen, his heart pounding in his chest. He pulled away when he reached her skirts, crawling off the bed.

He got down on his knees, grasping her ankles and pulling her to the edge of the bed. His hands slowly traveled up her legs, cupping her calves, and then skimming upward until he reached the clasp for her stocking. He unclasped it, his fingers skimming over her skin as he pulled her stocking down. She shivered, pushing up onto her elbows to watch him.

When he pulled it off, he tossed it away, doing the same with the other. He ran his hands up her legs, pushing her skirt up until it was bunched at her waist, his mouth going dry when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath her skirts. He leaned forward, kissing and lightly sucking on her inner thigh. Her muscles quivered underneath his mouth. When he got close to her cunt, he stopped to breathe her in, nosing along the outside before turning to suck on her other thigh.

He couldn’t see her, but he took her pants as a good sign as he kissed and sucked his way back to her cunt.

He leaned back slightly, running his fingers lightly over her center, pressing in ever so slightly. He pulled his finger away, rubbing the wetness there with his thumb before sticking his finger in his mouth.

How a woman’s cunt could taste so divine, he didn’t know, but he felt his blood heading south, his cock hardening as he leaned in close.

“Please.”

He couldn’t help but smirk at Rey’s breathless request.

“Please what?”

“Please put your fucking tongue on me before I burst into flame.”

He chuckled at her frank speech, unused to hearing a lady speak so coarsely.

“Well, since you asked nicely.”

He leaned down, licking a stripe up her cunt. She started to bow off the bed, so he placed a hand on her lower abdomen to hold her in place. Pride flooding through him at her enthusiastic response.

Per Dameron’s instructions, he swirled his tongue around the bud he found at the top. He experimented a bit, licking her repeatedly, using different pressures and speed at his swirls at the top, plunging his tongue into her dripping hole.

He loved the flavor of her on his tongue. Why had Hux and Dameron never told him how wonderful this was? Well, from the way he had laughed at Ben’s request for help, Hux was as clueless as Ben, but Dameron clearly knew what it was like to pleasure a woman. Ben idly resolved to ask why he had kept it such a secret before putting all thoughts of Dameron and Hux from his mind.

Eventually he found a rhythm, licking her, swirling his tongue around the growing bud. As Dameron had instructed, he inserted a finger in, her wet heat clamping down around him, and curled as he sucked the bud in his mouth.

Rey once more bowed off the bed. He pressed her more firmly into the mattress as he moved his finger in and out, making sure to curl and rub against the spongy area inside. He could tell she was close by how every muscle grew tense.

He gently added a second finger, delighted when it took almost no time for her to stretch around him.

The noise she was making was enough to wake the dead, and certainly loud enough that the rest of the occupants of the house could hear her. Ben found that thought oddly arousing. Everyone could hear that he was wringing pleasure out of her.

She tried to twist away, groaning loudly when he added a third finger. If she hadn’t been shouting a barrage of yes’s, he might have thought she didn’t like what he was doing.

He pumped his fingers in and out of her, increasing the pace and making sure to hit that spot each time, as he exhaled and then sucked hard.

Rey screamed, her entire body trembling as her inner walls clamped down on his fingers. He stopped sucking, but continued to pump in and out of her muscles spasmed. When the spasms finally abated, Rey lay there, entirely limp. Ben pulled his fingers out, sucking on each one as he crawled up onto the bed, pulling her against him as he leaned against the headboard.

Rey didn’t protest, feeling like a rag doll against him, her breathing starting to slow as she grasped at the fabric of his vest. He combed his fingers through her hair, feeling supremely pleased and extremely hard at how well he had pleasured her. He licked his lips, savoring the remaining taste of her on his lips.

After several minutes, Rey pushed herself up, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

Ben smirked down at her, knowing he should perhaps play it cooler, but utterly unable to hide how proud he was. “I have a friend who is a known rogue. When I asked, he gave me the finer details on how to pleasure a woman.”

Rey hummed and snuggled back down. “Be sure to pass on my gratitude then.”

Ben chuckled, loving the moment, how domestic it felt, her grasping hold of him while he combed his fingers through her hair.

“Now, then,” he said, “What do you think of _A Tale of Two Cities_?”

Rey laughed.

* * *

The following week seemed to pass at an even more torturously slow pace than the previous. When Saturday arrived, Ben waited until half past eleven before heading to the brothel. He arrived promptly at noon. Surely noon was late enough for any of them to sleep.

It was Rey who answered the door, her face lighting up when she saw it was him. She got as far as closing the door before Ben backed her against and crashed his lips on hers. He felt frantic, wanting to touch everything at once and feeling very irritated that there were clothes in the way.

He wrenched his lips away from hers and kissed a trail across her jaw to her ear.

“I’ve thought of nothing this past week, but how you tasted, how you screamed when you came.”

Rey grasped his hair, pulling tight, a small whine at the back of her throat.

“I’ve had to take myself in hand at least twice a day in order to get any work done.”

Rey pushed him off. Ben’s protest died in his throat when she immediately grasped his hand and pulled him up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Ben took the lead, his strides so long that Rey had to run to keep up with him.

He had come to a decision earlier in the week—two weeks ago if he were being completely honest. He no longer cared about waiting until he got married. He wanted to fuck Rey. He didn’t know what it was about her, but she had changed all his ideals with a blowjob.

Maybe he was just fool enough to fall for the first woman to suck his cock, but he didn’t think so. He didn’t just enjoy Rey’s mouth around him. Their conversations were some of the most stimulating he had had in recent years. For a woman with no formal education, Rey was shockingly well read, and deliciously witty.

He threw open the door at the end of the hall. Pulling Rey in, he kicked the door shut with his foot, crashing his lips against hers once more. He felt as if he were on opium, every sensation heightened. He kissed down her jaw, his fingers scrabbling for the ties to her corset, yanking them impatiently.

“I want to be inside you,” he said, kissing the swell of her breast. He pulled back just long enough to pull the corset over her head.

“What about waiting until marriage,” Rey said, sounding breathless as her hands fiddled with the buttons of his waistcoat.

“Fuck marriage.” He palmed her breast through the fabric, his already hard cock twitching at her moan.

“Are you sure?” She squeezed his hair as he sucked hard on her nipple.

“I have never been surer of anything in my life,” he said.

He pulled back. “Unless of course you’d rather not.”

Rey reached behind to undo the ties on her skirt. “Ben, I have been waiting two weeks for you to decide to fuck me instead of talking. Do you think I agreed to be your whore for the conversation?”

He winced at the word whore. He didn’t like being reminded that he was paying her, but his cock demanded he cease thinking and move on. He pulled off his waistcoat and threw it aside, pulling his shirt out of his trousers. Rey mimicked his frantic movements, pushing her skirt down.

Ben forgot about his own clothes when Rey puller her underclothes over her head, baring her body to him. He grasped her waist, pulling her to him and wrapping his mouth around her nipple and sucking. The moan that left her lips had him pulling her closer, rocking his hips into hers. Her hands dipped between them, stroking him through the fabric of his trousers.

He growled, popping off her breast and latching onto the other as her nimble fingers began to unfasten the buttons of his trousers, reaching in to stroke him.

He pulled away, hissing and grabbing her wrist.

“Unless you want this to end very quickly, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself.”

Rey smirked up at him, leaning forward to kiss his chest, her tongue darting out to lick with each kiss.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want that.”

Without warning, Ben bent down, curling his hand under her knees and lifting her into his arms. He smirked at her squeak as he strode to the bed, depositing her on top of it. He climbed on top of her, his arms on either side of her head, and kissed her. Her hands roamed over the planes of his body as he swept his tongue into her mouth.

He really could have kept kissing her all day, but he was a man on a mission. He had thought of little else the past week, and as delightful as kissing Rey was, he wanted to bury himself inside her. Thanks to further lessons from Dameron—who was thankfully not the type to use Ben’s inexperience as fodder for jokes—Ben knew it best he prepare Rey before entering her.

_“Men like Hux will tell you that it doesn’t matter if the woman derives pleasure from the experience,” Poe told him, “but a whore is paid to make you think you’re a god. Take it from me, it’s better.”_

Ben kissed his way down her body, stopping to once more suck on her breasts—one of his favorite of Rey’s features—on his way down. He repeated his steps from the week prior, figuring Rey had certainly seemed enthusiastic the week before.

He paused, Dameron’s words ringing in his head.

Rey lifted her head. “What is it?”

Ben frowned. Dare he ask her? What if she said no? What if she was merely pretending for his coin? He narrowed his eyes, considering his words carefully.

“Promise me you won’t playact.”

A wrinkle formed between Rey’s brows. “What do you mean?”

Ben swallowed. He thought he could trust Rey, but did he really know her? “I know I’m inexperienced and that I am paying you. It…” He cleared his throat, his face heating. “It is common for harlots to pretend to enjoy themselves.” Rey opened her mouth, indignation on her face. He rushed on. “I promise I won’t take offense or stop paying for you. I just want you to promise you won’t playact for my benefit. I want to know what I’m doing right or wrong.”

Rey stared at him a moment. “Very well.” She cocked her head. “Do you know what you’re doing wrong now?”

Ben shook his head, relief flooding through him. Perhaps she was still pulling his leg, telling him what he wanted to hear, but he didn’t think so.

“You’re talking.”

Ben smirked as Rey stared at him with her eyebrows raised.

“Very well then.”

Without preamble, he bent down, licking a strip up Rey’s cunt.

She fell back, moaning when he sucked her sensitive bundle into his mouth.

He loved her cunt. How had he ever gone so long without one in his life? Though, he did wonder if any but her cunt would make him react so strongly. Somehow, he had a feeling that it was only Rey he responded to. He began his series of licking, sucking, and sticking his fingers inside her, trying to use her moans and hitches of breath as gauges for how well he was doing.

He grinned against her when she suddenly grabbed his hair, pushing his face into her cunt, her legs locking around his ears as her back bowed off the bed.

She fell back, her body going limp as he pulled away, licking his lips. He scrambled off the bed just long enough to kick off his trousers and then scrambled back over her. She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding her tongue against his.

He was painfully hard after listening to her moan for so long. He prayed he would last longer than several moments.

Rey pushed at his shoulders, pushing him onto his back and straddling on top of him. He bit his lip hard as she rocked against him. She placed one hand on his chest, reaching between them to grab hold of him.

He ground his jaw together, his eyes rolling back as she slowly sank down on him. Nothing Dameron or Hux could have told him could have prepared him for the feeling of being inside a woman. He realized now why they had both been so insistent that he spend the night with a woman.

He looked up at Rey, both her hands planted on his chest with her head thrown back, as she started moving. He reached up to place his hands on either side of her hips, helping her as she moved up and down. He tried desperately to hang on to his sanity, having never seen anything as sexy as Rey riding his cock with her mouth open and eyes closed.

He surged upward, wrapping his lips around her nipple again. She quickly readjusted herself and rocked into him as he laved at her breasts, one hand tweaking her other nipple and the other planted on the swell of her ass.

He growled when she raked her nails down his scalp. Grabbing her hips, he flipped her onto her back. She wrapped her legs around him as he took over, snapping his hips and groaning at the lewd slap of his skin against hers.

He wasn’t going to last much longer.

He reached between them, circling that sensitive spot, trying to get her moaning like he had before.

He forced himself to slow his hips, the muscles in his back beginning to tighten as Rey moaned. Before he could manage to make her come, however, he lost his last thread of control, groaning as he used his last remaining rationality to pull out and spill himself onto her stomach.

Without pausing to catch his breath, he immediately crawled down Rey’s body, sucking and licking until she came apart around him. Hearing her groan as her body twitched was a sound he would never tire of.

He had just enough energy left to grab a cloth to wipe off her stomach before laying on his back and dragging her on top of him.

They lay in silence. Ben traced his fingers up and down her spine, trying to settle his racing heart.

His thoughts wandered, and his eyes drifted closed, exhausted despite the fact it was not long past noon.

He could most certainly get used to this.


	4. Chapter 4

# Chapter 4

Over the next several weeks, Ben’s life fell into a pattern. He more than lived up to his reputation as an irritable and demanding employer, frustrated and cursing that he couldn’t spend more time with Rey. He had considered visiting her during the week on more than one occasion, but each time decided against it, concerned that Madam Natal would use it as an opportunity to get out of their agreement. Thus, he spent every Saturday—arriving at noon and leaving the following morning—in bed with Rey, trying to sate himself for the week to come.

Rey, for her part, kept her promises. She taught him what she liked, gently redirected him when he did something she didn’t care for. The arrangement that had started with Rey in the position of expert began to shift as Ben learned the art of pleasure. He wasn’t a man used to taking order—preferred to be the one in charge—and the bedroom was no exception. He took great pride in his ability to wring pleasure from Rey before taking his own. Dameron had been speaking truth when he claimed the woman’s pleasure was important. Ben pitied Hux in his foolishness.

The problem, however, was that it was never enough. No matter how many times or ways he took Rey, no matter how many times he made her scream before she did the same for him, Ben never felt fully sated. His hunger for her—his pull to her—felt as if it were ever expanding, rather than receding. Were it possible, he would do nothing else but spend his days with her.

It also wasn’t only the sex he enjoyed. Rey was very well read, even more so since he had taken to leaving novels for her, and exceedingly witty and bright. He enjoyed discussing novels with her, often spending hours sparring over plots and characters. He listened raptly as she talked of her views on politics and on the poor and the injustices they suffered.

In short, he felt more alive than he had in many years.

Leaving in the early hours of Sunday each week became more and more difficult. He thought—hoped—he could see the same wistfulness in Rey’s eyes.

He wanted her with him, in his home. He wanted to marry her. It would certainly cause not a little scandal for him to marry the laundress of a brothel, but the more time passed, the less he cared.

“I love you.”

He had Rey pinned against a wall, her skirts shoved up and her legs around his waist as he pounded into her, when the sentiment slipped out. He hadn’t had the patience to wait for either of them to undress and had instead pushed her against the wall, lifting her legs and skirts. Rey didn’t seem to mind, however, returning his kisses with equal fervor.

Rey responded to his proclamation by groaning and pulling his lips back to hers, tightening her legs around him. He didn’t last long after that—he never did that first time each Saturday. As he came down from his high, he rested his forehead hers, both of them trying to catch their breath.

After a prolonged moment, Rey gently tugged his hair to pull his head back.

“What did you say?”

Ben blinked at her, his sex-addled mind trying to figure out what she was talking about.

“Did you say that you love me?”

Ben froze, his eyes widening as he realized he had indeed let the phrase slip through.

Rey dropped her legs, running her hand down her skirts to straighten them.

“You realize this is all we’ll ever be, don’t you?” she asked, looking up at him.

He frowned, taking a step back as she brushed past him. “What are you talking about?”

Rey sighed, rubbing her forehead, her back still to him. “You know that there is no future for us.”

Ben’s heart stopped, dread washing through him. “Why not?”

She turned, giving him an incredulous look. “Because there is not one person in your social sphere who would accept you marrying a whore.”

He shook his head. “You’re not a whore. Not really. And I don’t give a fuck what anyone says.”

She crossed her arms. “Well, I do.”

Ben laughed without humor. “So, you’re ashamed of me, then?”

Rey didn’t answer, crossing her arms and looking away. He walked over to her, panic starting to close his throat at her lack of response. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“I don’t care about anyone’s opinion but yours.”

Rey closed her eyes, before turning to look at him. “You may not care, but everyone, including the servants in your home, will. Do you think they will take kindly to working for a fallen woman?”

Ben snorted. “Then they can find new employment.”

“And who will replace them?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Rey shrugged off his hands. “It _does_ matter.” She walked to the window and it took everything in his power not to immediately follow her. She hugged herself as she stared at the road below.

“I know what it is like to have your life upended,” she said. “To have one poor decision ruin the course of your life.” She glanced back at him. “I won’t do that to you.”

Ben strode over. “You aren’t doing anything to me. If I choose to make you my wife, then hang anyone who dares judge. They don’t know you like I do.”

Rey turned to look at him, studying him in silence. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned back to the window, her fingers tightening on her arms. “I think it’s best you leave.”

Ben recoiled. “What? No.” He made to touch her, but Rey jerked away before he could. “I’m not leaving. We don’t have to discuss anything, now. Nothing has to be decided today.”

The sorrow in her eyes as she watched him made his heart crack.

“Please leave.” Her words were flat when she turned her back to him. A physical pain shot through his chest when he realized she truly wanted him to leave.

He stood there, his life falling apart in the span of a few moments, wondering how things had gone so bad so quickly.

“Leave!” The words were hissed, but Ben could hear the sniffle at the end of the word.

Feeling as if there were a band constricting his chest, he turned and walked out the door.

* * *

“What do you mean, she won’t see me?”

It had been the worst week of Ben’s life. He had spent the remainder of the previous Saturday getting incredibly drunk and the following day nursing a pounding headache. He had considered many times of ignoring their arrangement, no matter what Madam Natal might do, and showing up on a weekday, but in the end had decided it best to give Rey some space.

As a result, he had thrown himself into his work, even more demanding and short-tempered than usual. His employees had been wise enough to disturb him as little as possible.

Now, he stood outside the brothel, mouth agape as Madam Natal informed him that Rey was refusing to see him.

“We have an arrangement,” he reminded the woman, panic making his heart beat in his ears.

“Yes, and Rey bade me inform you that the arrangement has ceased. She does not wish to see you.”

His eyes widened as the madam made to close the door. He pressed a hand against it to stop her. “Wait!”

She paused, eyebrows raised.

“What…what will happen to Rey?” he asked. “Now that the arrangement is off, what will happen to her?”

“We have come to an arrangement of our own,” Madam Natal said, her expression neutral. “She will exchange her time with you for time with other men.”

Ben shook his head, fear and jealousy making his stomach clench. “No.”

The woman smirked at him. “You have shown me just how much money I have been losing by not utilizing the young woman to her full abilities.”

Ben shook his head again, resisting the urge to throttle the madam. This was his fault. If he had just taken a harlot that first day, Rey would have remained a laundress and cook. Now because of his meddling, she was reduced to a common whore.

“Please,” he said, his voice shaking. He straightened his spine, trying to seem imposing. “I will continue to pay for Rey.” He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “She doesn’t have to see me. I will continue to pay both her and you.”

Madam Natal regarded him, looking thoughtful. “You are quite a strange gentleman, and far too willing to spend your money.” She put a hand on her hip. “I ought to demand more money from you, since you’re so eager to be rid of it, but I haven’t seen such sorrow and love in a man’s eyes in many years. It’s nice to be reminded that love still exists in this world.” She nodded. “Very well then. I accept your bargain.”

Ben nodded in return, relief making his head spin. “I shall have the money delivered each Saturday at noon.”

Madam Natal nodded and stepped back, closing the door. Ben stepped forward, once more planting a hand on the door to stop her.

“No one is allowed to purchase her.”

He stared at the madam as she again raised her eyebrows at him. “Of course.”

He stared for a moment longer and then released his hand and stepped back.

He stood looking at the closed door for several minutes, feeling as if what remained of his heart had been crushed in his chest.

* * *

Ben stared down at the envelope, which held the notes he had designated for Rey’s weekly installment of money. Madam Natal’s, of course, had not been returned.

If he had thought that first week hell, it had been nothing compared to the week after Rey’s refusal to see him. Another bout of drunkenness followed by a pounding headache had been enough to swear him off that behavior, but other things had suffered as a result of his depression.

Ben had often prided himself in his well kempt appearance. He bathed regularly, kept his hair combed, and shaved daily. He wore tailored clothing, all made from the finest cloth money could buy.

The only routine maintained during this past hellish week was wearing his tailored clothing. He forewent his shaving, his hair in constant disarray from running his hands through it, and he often chose to fall into bed and pull the covers over his head rather than bathing.

Now, staring down at the returned money, Ben felt his heart cracking even wider, felt as if the air had grown thinner, his chest heaving.

He clenched his fist, the bank notes crumpling in his hand as panic threaded through him. He wanted to go to her, to demand she take the money, but knew what she would say if he asked why she returned the money. She did not accept charity.

He rubbed his chest, trying to soothe the ache there. What if she had refused not to sell herself to other men. Madam Natal had kept her money, but thinking back to the previous week, he had never specified that Rey wasn’t allowed to sell herself, only that Madam Natal couldn’t.

He paced in front of his fireplace. What if Rey decided to become a full time harlot? She had started her arrangement with him because she had enjoyed sex, after all.

He looked down at the notes still clenched in his fist, tossing them into the fire with a growl.

He wouldn’t stop. He would send her money every week. He would not let his lapse in judgment be the cause of Rey’s downfall.

* * *

Every week Ben sent money to both Rey and Madam Natal, and every week Rey had hers returned, envelope unopened.

He had managed to keep enough of his pride not to go back to the brothel, but had written to Madam Natal, asking if Rey had sold herself. The relief at hearing she had not had nearly bowled him over.

Hux and Dameron came by regularly, the former giving him a difficult time for falling in love with a harlot while the latter merely watched Ben, saying very little. Several weeks in, Ben nearly came to blows with Hux for referring to Rey as a Harlot. Hux no longer came, after that.

Dameron continued to spend time with his friend, playing chess with Ben rather than pressuring him to go outside his house. Ben did enjoy the time, but his life felt hallow without Rey. Dameron spoke little, either of Rey or anything else, seeming to understand that Ben had no wish to speak.

Nearly three months after Rey had sent him away, Dameron finally asked him a question.

“What is it about her that would leave you so broken? Forgive me—I pass no judgment of her—but she is only the servant of a brothel.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair, exhaling as he tried to explain. “I don’t entirely know, to be honest. The moment I saw her, it was as if some part that had been missing clicked into place.” He rubbed his eyes with his middle finger and thumb. “And now that she is gone, she has taken that part with her again. I feel the hole all the more keenly because I know what it felt like to have it filled.”

Dameron leaned back, staring at him a moment before nodding and returning to their game, not speaking the rest of his visit.

The following week, Ben was setting up his chessboard when his butler announced he had visitors.

Ben looked up, standing abruptly, his heart caught in his chest when Rey followed Dameron through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I'm sorry, but lets be real, I'm a writer, so I'm not. :P
> 
> Last chapter shall be out on Tuesday. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

# Chapter 5

Dameron cleared his throat, but Ben hardly noticed the man. Instead he stared at Rey, who had her hands clasped in front of her and eyes down.

“I’m afraid I cannot make our game of chess today, Solo.” Dameron nodded at Rey. “I brought someone in my stead.”

Ben didn’t note Dameron exit the room, his heart pounding in his chest, blood rushing through his ears as he took in Rey’s appearance.

She seemed uncomfortable, fidgeting with her hands and avoiding his gaze. After several long, quiet moments, she walked over to the chess board and sat, finishing rearranging the chess pieces. Ben watched her, noting every difference in her appearance since last he had seen her. Had she always been that thin? The bones of her jaw and cheeks were to be protruding and her skin was pale, like she hadn’t been eating.

He clenched his fists in an effort to stop himself from grabbing her, hugging her, kissing her. He needed to touch her, to prove to himself that she was truly here in his study, sitting at his chessboard with her hands in her lap.

Instead, he walked over and sat, willing her to look up. She glanced at the board and moved a piece.

He moved his eyes to the board board and pretended to contemplate his move as he contemplated what to say to her. Dameron had clearly gone to her, had convinced her to Ben’s home. What had he said to get her here? She had been rejecting Ben’s money for months, had refused to see him when he went that first week.

He tried to quell the hope rising inside him—that hope that she had been as miserable as he had these past months—but it persisted. Perhaps she had been persuaded to change her mind. At this point, however, he would gladly go back to their former arrangement. If that was all she wanted, he was willing to set aside his own desires to give it to her.

He moved a pawn, and Rey made her next move without a word. They continued this way for more than fifteen minutes before Ben could no longer remain silent.

“Why have you come?” His voice came out in a rasp, emotion thickening his throat.

Rey froze, taking a deep breath and looking at him for the first time. He felt as if someone was piercing him through the heart when he noted the sorrow in her eyes. He also felt a traitorous sense of both vindication and relief that she seemed to be taking their separation as badly as he was.

“Mr. Dameron came to me quite concerned for his friend,” she said, her voice hardly loud enough to hear. “He requested that I come speak with you.”

Ben stared. “I see.”

They watched each other in silence. Ben grappled with something to say, some excuse for why his friend would be worried for him, but he was loath to lie to her. Rey’s rejection had left him feeling like a hollowed out shell of the man he used to be. Perhaps with time life would regain its color, but these past months had been filled with nothing but gray.

“Why do you send back the money?” he asked. He knew the answer, but he needed to hear her say it.

Rey winced, looking back down at her hands. “I don’t take charity.”

He ground his teeth at her stubbornness. “It’s not charity. I’m paying you to stay away from other men.”

Rey looked up at him, her expression neutral. “And if I want other men?”

Ben recoiled, horror washing over him at the realization she truly did not share his feelings, perhaps even caring nothing for him. He stood, his chair scraping loudly against the floor, and walked to the fireplace. He rubbed his chest, his heart aching like a physical pain.

“I think it best you leave.”

Silence.

“Ben –“

“I will stop sending the money if you wish –“ He cut off, swallowing before he continued. “If you wish to sell yourself to other men, I will stop the money.”

He heard her stand, her footsteps nearly silent as she walked to him.

“Ben –“

Ben’s voice cracked as he cut her off again. “If you have any mercy for me, you will leave.”

He looked down, startled, when her hand cupped his cheek and turned his face towards her. She had a small smile on her lips, though her eyes were filled with tears.

“I don’t want other men,” she said, her voice wavering with the unshed tears.

Ben exhaled a shaky breath, relief washing over him. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling her hand away from his cheek, his thumb brushing the inside of her wrist.

“What do you want?”

He held his breath, watching her as she stared back at him, the tears in her eyes spilling over.

A sob broke through as more tears fell, her face crumpling.

“You.” She sobbed again. “I want you.”

Ben froze as Rey pulled her hand from his, covering her face as she started sobbing in earnest.

She wanted him.

She was sobbing.

She wanted him.

He crushed her to him, his arms wrapping around her as she grasped his shirt and sobbed into his chest. He kissed the top of her head, whispering that it was ok. He tried to keep the smile off his face. It seemed disingenuous to be so happy while she was sobbing, but it was a losing battle and eventually he gave up.

He kissed her head again, sliding his hands up to cup her jaw, his thumbs brushing the tears away as he kissed her temple, then her eyes, tilting her face up to kiss her cheeks, and her nose. He pulled back slightly, looking down at her as his heart felt near bursting.

She opened her eyes, placing her hands over his. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, but she shook hers back at him.

“No,” she said, her voice now insistent. “I was wrong. I was scared, and I should never have rejected you. It was foolish of me to think I could live without you, to even consider it.”

“I should have kept my mouth shut,” Ben replied. “I should never have pushed you.”

She laughed hollowly. “I was the one who pushed you away. I let the fear and pain of Thomas’s leaving ruin the only truly good thing in my life.” Her voice grew needy. “Please say you’ll forgive me.”

Ben leaned down, brushing his lips against hers.

“All is forgiven,” he said against her lips.

Rey sobbed once more before grabbing his shirt and pressing her lips firmly against his.

The piece that had been missing, the hole in his heart, clicked back into place as he pulled her closer, one hand on the small of her back and the other still cupping her jaw. She opened her mouth and he plunged his tongue inside, groaning at how wonderful and right it felt. Rey answered with a whimper, pressing herself even closer, her hands roaming franticly over him.

He pulled his lips from hers just long enough to reach down, placing an arm beneath her knees and swinging her up into his arms.

She gasped, laughing lightly. “Where are we going?”

“My bedroom,” he said, striding for the stairs.

Rey clung to him, kissing along his jaw as he took the stairs two at a time. She used one hand unbutton his shirt, her fingers darting inside, as if she were as desperate to touch him as he was her.

His heart pounded in his chest, his head spinning with how quickly this day had changed.

He threw open the door, kicking it shut behind him as he strode towards the bed. When he reached it, he set Rey on her feet. They stared at one another as he brushed his hands up and down her arms while she clung to his shirt.

The moment hung in the air. Ben wanted to tell her he loved her again, wanted to demand she become his wife, but worried about pushing her. Though she admitted to wanting him as much as he did her, that did not mean she had changed her mind about their future.

As if she were reading his mind, she said, “Please ask me.”

She clung to him, pleading in her eyes.

Ben paused a beat, uncertain whether she was asking what he hoped she was asking.

He swallowed hard, and gathered his courage, praying she would not reject him again.

“Will you consent to be my wife?”

Rey exhaled and closed her eyes as her shoulders relaxed.

After a prolonged moment, in which Ben’s heart nearly beat out of his chest, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Yes.”

His skipped several beats before taking off racing again. He pulled Rey to him, crushing his lips to hers. His hands slid around her back and pulled her close as he nipped at her lips.

“Say it again,” he said.

Rey laughed in between his kisses. “Yes, I will marry you.”

Suddenly there were far too many layers between them. It had been months since he had last been with her. He needed to taste her again, to remind himself of her delicious flavor, needed to feel the brush of her skin against his fingers.

He frantically pulled at her clothes, hearing stitches rip as he impatiently pulled them off. Rey seemed equally frantic, untying her skirts and raising her hands for him to remove her corset. When she pulled off the last garment, Ben kissed her again, this time with his hands roving over her body. He squeezed the gentle swell of her bottom, skimmed his fingers along her sides.

Rey whimpered when he kissed down her jaw, sucking on the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He kissed his way down, trying to quell his own frantic desire to devour her rapidly and forcing himself to take his time. He needed to savor every moment.

Rey pulled his hair, forcing him to look at her. “Please. I need you inside me.”

“But –“

She shook her head, her fingers making short work of his buttons. “I don’t want any of that. I want you inside me.” She pulled open his shirt, pushing it down his shoulders. He pulled it the rest of the way off and tossed it aside as her fingers went to his trousers. “I need you to fill me. I need you to pound me within an inch of my life.”

He growled, his fingers tangling in her hair. He kissed her once more, sliding his tongue against hers, stuck between his desire to savor the moment and his desire to grant her every wish.

Deciding he could do both, he pulled away.

“Lie back,” he said softly.

Rey bit her lip, doing as he commanded, laying back against the pillows. He made short work of removing his final articles of clothing and then climbed on top of her, settling between her legs. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead as he looked down at her.

Noting the frantic want in her eyes, he reached down and lined himself up with her.

He pressed in slowly, his head falling onto her shoulder as her eyes fluttered shut, both of them groaning. It felt like coming home, sliding into her, and though he hadn’t prepared her, she took him easily enough.

When he was seated to the hilt, he waited for her to adjust to him. She wrapped her legs around him, and he raised his head to look at her. He could look at Rey every day for the rest of his life and never feel he had had his fill. She returned his gaze with equal wonder, tears sliding out of the corners of her eyes and falling into her hair.

She slid her hand along his jaw, her fingers toying with his hair, her thumb tracing his cheekbones.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Ben froze, not daring to breathe, afraid he would blink and find that it was all a dream.

“I love you,” she said again, stronger this time, as if sensing his disbelief.

He leaned down, kissing her hard. He threaded his fingers through hers and slid their hands on either side of her head as he started to move.

He kept the pace slow, ignoring the part of him that demanded speed and ferocity. He wanted intimacy with her, wanted to savor the moment, to catch every hitch in her breath. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips. She opened readily, a moan in the back of her throat when their tongues met.

Her fingers tightened around his as she tilted her hips, trying to make him move faster. He smiled against her lips. He kissed his way to her ear, keeping his voice low.

“I want to savor every moment. I haven’t fucked you in months and I’m still not entirely convinced this isn’t a dream. And if it indeed is a dream, then I don’t want it to end.”

She inhaled sharply as he hit that spot inside her, her eyes fluttering shut once more.

“You are the most beautiful creature,” he continued, keeping the angle so that each slow drag rubbed right where he wanted it to. “I have dined and danced with the wealthy and supposedly well-bred women in my class, and not one of them even compares to you.”

Rey whimpered, biting her lip.

“Not one of them so much as tempted me to spend more than ten minutes in their presence,” he said, groaning when he felt her cunt squeeze him. “But you,” he bit lightly on her earlobe, “convinced me to throw an obscene amount of money at Madam Natal just for a night of your time.”

He snapped his hips, ramming himself hard into her. Her breath burst out of her, the momentum pushing her a few inches up the bed.

She groaned loudly, her fingers grasping him in a white-knuckled grip as she squeezed her legs tighter around his waist and canted her hips.

“Please, Ben,” she said, her voice high. “I need you.”

He stopped moving, pulling back to look at her. She opened her eyes and returned his gaze with equal ferocity.

“You’ll always have me,” he said softly, hoping she understood how much he meant it. He would never be parted from her again, no matter the lengths he might have to go through in the future to ensure he kept that promise.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her sternum, looking up at her.

“Tell me again,” he said, keeping his eyes on her as he pressed open-mouth kisses on the swell of her breasts.

“I love you,” she breathed.

He swirled his tongue around her nipple as he began to move his hips again.

“Say it again.”

“I love you.” This time it spilled from her lips on a groan.

He sucked hard and her back bowed off he bed.

“Again.”

“I love you.” The words were said in a rush.

As if knowing what he wanted her to do, she kept repeating it.

He rewarded her by speeding up his hips. He let go of one hand so that he could reach between them and swirl his fingers around that sensitive area, hissing when her insides clenched at the first swipe. Her free hand planted itself on his ass, grasping tightly and trying to coax him into speeding up even more. The words became all but a chant on her lips and he rewarded her for them. He snapped his hips so hard that she began scooting up the mattress with each thrust. She let go of his ass in favor of pressing a hand behind her to stop herself from hitting the headboard.

Without warning, she groaned loudly, her cunt squeezing him, trying to pull him in further as her muscles spasmed. What little restraint Ben had crumbled. He joined her, groaning loudly as he came, forgetting to pull out at the last moment and spilling himself inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, breathing hard as she ran her fingers through his hair. He wrapped both hands around her, hugging her to him as he tucked his chin over her shoulder. He closed his eyes. He never wanted to move.

Surely nothing could be worth moving for.

After what felt like mere moments, he jerked awake, instinctively squeezing Rey tighter. It took him a moment to remember the last day, how he now found himself clinging to her. She was completely still, perhaps asleep, and he didn’t want to disturb her. He moved his gaze to the clock, eyes widening when he saw the time. It had been several hours since Rey had arrived.

He started to pull away. Surely, he was crushing her. How could she breathe with him lying on top of her?

She groaned, a wrinkle forming between her brows as she tightened her grasp on him in her sleep. He raised a hand to smooth the wrinkle on her face. Her eyes fluttered open, her momentary confusion fading into a smile.

“Hello.”

He leaned down to kiss her.

“Hello.”

She opened her mouth to protest when he pulled away, but snapped it shut when he rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him, tucking her body next to his, one arm around her back and the other resting on her hip.

She snuggled closer, humming in contentment. Her fingers brushed through the smattering of hair on his chest, her nails lightly scraping at his skin. He closed his eyes, reveling in how happy he felt.

“Did you truly mean it?”

Ben looked down at her as she spoke, her hair fanned across his chest. She turned her head to look at him.

“Do you truly want me as your wife?”

His arms tightened around her, his subconscious worried that she would flee.

“Yes.” His gulped hard, knowing he needed to ask the question, but dreading the answer. “Do you truly want to marry me?”

Rey bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears.

He held his breath as her eyes looked between his.

“Yes,” she whispered, sniffling. “Very much so.”

He licked his lips, his breath rate increasing. “What changed your mind? Why now?”

Guilt marred Rey’s expression as the tears spilled down her cheeks, landing on his chest. He traced the back of his fingers across her cheeks to wipe them away.

“I wanted to call you back the moment you turned to leave,” she said, her voice wavering. “To tell you that it didn’t matter. But –“ she looked away, her eyes unfocused, “when Thomas left me, when my uncle threw me out of his home, my entire life was ended. I was born into relative comfort and because of one poor decision, everyone in my life turned against me. I had no family. No friends.”

She looked back at him. “I promised myself I would never be like that, would never cause someone the same pain.”

She closed her eyes, more tears leaking out of the corners, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Telling you to leave, refusing your money…it was all to save you from that fate.”

He combed his fingers through her hair. “Then why did you come today?”

She opened her eyes. “Mr. Dameron told me that you were naught but a shell of the man he once knew.” She reached up, smoothing her hand across his brow and brushing his hair back. “I had convinced myself that you were better off without me, that your money was nothing more than a sign of your guilty conscience trying to do right by me.” She laughed without humor. “I believed it was because I was your first, that your feelings were wrapped up in sex, and once that stopped, you would move on with your life.”

Anger burned in his chest. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from him. Her expression grew stricken when he rolled out from under her, standing and pulling on his trousers. He stood, walking to the window, too aware that Rey had done the same thing all those months ago.

She didn’t say anything as he tried to get a handle on his emotions. He ran a hand through his hair, his other covering his mouth, afraid he might speak and say something he would regret.

He breathed deeply, composing himself and ordering his thoughts as he turned toward her.

“Never say anything like that to me again.” He stalked towards the bed, his body shaking. “Never think it. These past months have been a living hell. I’m worse without you. What I feel for you has nothing to do with sex. I will gladly never have sex with you again if that’s what you think.”

Rey’s eyes were wide, her mouth parted as he knelt by the bed, grabbing her hand and placing it over his heart.

“I know my own heart,” he said. “I love you because you are clever, witty, well-read, can argue your point better than most men I know.” He pulled her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “And you are kind, giving, funny. You were dealt a hand that would make anyone jaded and cynical, and yet you were neither.” He raised his other hand, brushing his thumb across her lips. “And you are beautiful. You walked into that dining room and were so beautiful, I would have given my fortune to spend that night with you.”

He kissed her knuckles again. “Thomas was a fool. You are a gem of a woman and I count myself fortunate that you acquiesced to my demand to purchase your time, that you did not laugh at a man my age being so inexperienced. If it had not caused you such suffering, I would say I was glad that Thomas scorned you, for in doing so, he allowed me to meet the most extraordinary woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

Neither of them moved, his words hanging in the air.

Then, Rey leaned forward, wrapping both arms around his neck, and kissed him. He reeled as she peppered his face with kisses, returning to his mouth, nipping at his bottom lip, sliding her tongue against his. He stood, intending to climb onto the bed, but Rey was faster, wrapping her legs around his waist, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

He gasped when she clenched his hair in her fists, tilting his head to press open-mouthed kisses along his jaw to his ear. “I love you so much, Ben Solo.”

He turned sitting hard on the edge of the bed.

“I promise to never doubt you again,” she continued, grinding her hips against his hardening cock.

She unhooked her legs from around him, repositioning herself so that she was straddling him. She reached between then to unbutton his trousers, but he snapped his hand out to stop her.

When she looked at him in surprise, he said, “You deprived me of tasting you before, but you won’t be getting away with it again.”

He lifted her off his lap, lightly tossing her onto the bed before grabbing her ankles and yanking her to the edge. He knelt before her, his mouth watering at the sight of her glistening cunt. Rey rose up on her elbows, mouth parted as she panted. Keeping his eyes on her, he licked a stripe up, groaning as the taste of her hit his mouth.

He took no mercy on her, licking and sucking until she grabbed a pillow to scream into as she shook. He didn’t stop, sticking first one finger inside her and then two, fucking her mercilessly with his fingers. She nearly twisted away, and he would have let her if she hadn’t been telling him not to stop. He planted his other hand on her stomach to firmly hold her in place as her back bowed off the bed when her second orgasm hit.

He slowed his movements, sensing she was too sensitive for him to continue. As the last of her spasms abated, he kissed his way back up her body. She had one arm thrown over her eyes, her mouth parted as her chest heaved. He kissed the hollow of her throat, then her chin. He kissed each cheek and reached up to pull her hand away, lacing his fingers with hers and holding it against his chest. He kissed each eyelid, then her nose, and the corners of her mouth. When he finally pressed his lips to hers, she opened greedily, a keen in the back of her throat as she wrapped her other arm around his neck, pulling him down on top of her.

He didn’t know how long they kissed, only that neither of them seemed to be in a rush. His cock protested the wait, but the intimacy and pleasure of kissing Rey left him more than content. They rolled so that she was on top of him, his hands on her hips and her fingers threading through his hair.

Rey tilted her hips, sliding against him. He groaned, his fingers digging into her hips as she moved. Eventually, she pulled away, lifting herself onto her knees and lining him up with her. Her eyes started to close, but Ben grasped her hips hard, keeping her from sinking down.

“Look at me,” he said.

Rey locked her gaze with his, biting her lip as she slowly sank down. He exhaled a shaky breath as she sank down, taking him all the way to the hilt. She placed her hands on his chest and started moving.

Ben hardly dare blink, lost in Rey’s eyes as she moved against him. He bucked up his hips as she came down, earning a gasp. He shifted, lifting her off him. He sat up, adjusting her in his lap, and lined himself back up, sink back inside her.

He kissed her again, his finger tangling in her hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He placed sloppy kisses down her jaw, tilting her back so that he could kiss down the column of her throat, back to her breasts, using one hand to hold her steady as she bucked her hips, the other to gently massage her breast.

Her chest started heaving as she sped up her pace. He trailed his fingers between them, where their bodies met, running tight circles around her. Her breath hitched, her hands grasping his hair almost painfully. He pulled away from her chest to watch her, her head thrown back, the muscles of her abdomen clenching as she fucked herself against him.

He groaned, pulling her up to kiss her a third time as he recklessly spilled himself inside her.

When he caught his breath, he pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers. “We haven’t been as careful as we ought to have been.”

Rey chuckled. “No. We haven’t.”

He pulled away, catching her gaze. “Does it bother you? Do…do you want children?”

Rey smiled, dropping her eyes as her face flushed. “No, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve always wanted a family.”

Her smile faded. “Are you absolutely sure you’re ready for the scandal? Marrying me will likely spell the end of your social influence.”

Ben leaned forward, kissing her quickly. “I was serious when I said I didn’t care. Anyone who dares to judge is not an acquaintance I want.”

Rey bit her lip, the corners of her mouth turned up and happiness in her eyes. “And what of our children?”

Ben tucked a hair behind her head. “I don’t want them marrying anyone who would judge their mother. We can move, if you wish. Somewhere no one knows who you are or how I met you.”

Rey placed her hand over his. “I love you so much Ben Solo.”

Ben wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. “I love you, too.” He exhaled, loving the feeling of having her back in his arms. “I never want to be parted from you again.”

She nuzzled into his chest, squeezing her arms tighter around him.

“You’ll never have to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so so much for reading and commenting. This has been a truly wonderful ride. And thanks so much to ArdeaJestin for this wonderful prompt. Hopefully it lived up to your expectations. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! :)
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic, here are some others you might like:  
>   
>  _Lighter Pieces_  
>   
>  **[Lineage of Darkness](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22568509/chapters/53931379), Rated E, 7695 words, Complete:** TROS fix-it. Two doors. Two possible futures. One path leads to Rey's death. The other leads to her ascension as Empress of the Sith. Kylo knows which vision he cannot let happen and which vision he must make sure comes to pass. He has to turn Rey. He cannot fail. His failure will mean her death. (HEA)  
>   
>  **[Happy Anniversary](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922756), Rated E, 4101 words, Complete:** On their one-year anniversary, Rey and Ben are debating over the fictional couple Reylo again. It was how they met. Ben kept meaning to let her know he wasn’t an anti, but enjoyed the debates too much. It might backfire on him now, however, when the debate gets in the way of his proposal.  
>   
>  **[Like Life Itself](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041946), Rated E, 7009 words, Complete:** TROS fixit one-shot. Ben gave the last of his life force to save the woman he loved. But the same force that had created his grandfather, now gives him a second chance, to keep the balance in the galaxy.  
>   
>  **[A Scandalous Match](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15160505/chapters/35158235), rated T, 63,698 words, Complete:** The first fic in my Regency Reylo series. If you like Pride and Prejudice, then you'll enjoy this Jane Austen-inspired fic.  
>   
>  **[Fugue de Saudade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007841/chapters/49961426), rated T, 79,219 words, complete:** A Modern AU non-linear story in which Ben and Rey meet and fall in love over a mutual love for music. They were parted for three years, each devastated and left thinking the other had ghosted them. Watch them fall in love and deal with the pain of reconciliation with the backdrop of Juilliard and music.  
>   
>  ****[A Greater Balance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558176/chapters/31112049), rated T, 37,821 words, complete: A post-TLJ canon take on what episode 9 could have been. (It was also my first Reylo fic. :)  
>   
>  **Dark Pieces. _MIND THE TAGS._**  
>   
>  **[A Haunting Endearment](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18162713/chapters/42953456), Rated E, 65,176 words, Rape/NonCon Warning, Complete:** Since Ben Solo's strange disappearance in 1885, there have been many rumors of what happened, but the man was never found, dead or alive. Rey, as part of the hazing process for her sorority, has to walk inside the house and say the name Ben Solo five times. When she enters the house, however, her entire life changes.  
>   
>  **[An Ill-Fated Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19926814/chapters/47182843), Rated E, 3780 words, Rape/NonCon Warning, Complete:** Rey Niima has been harbored feelings for the wealthy Ben Solo since before her coming out. She can't believe her good fortune when Mr. Solo requests she save him a dance. Ben Solo has admired Miss Niima since he returned from his travels several years ago. Tonight, he will finally sample the lovely lady's charms.


End file.
